The shortcuts we won't take
by Tearing you asunder
Summary: She blinked up at him with wide eyes and whispered squeakily, "This does not bode well." Loki sucked in a breath at the realisation and sighed. His One had terrible timing. He had just finished planning how to let the Frost Giants in to ruin Thor's coronation and now all of a sudden his Soulmark had a name and face to go with the words.
1. Chapter 1

Legend said that Soulmarks were in truth a curse laid on the Nine Realms by Odin. As the tale went, the Allfather was tied up in a dispute between two families who demanded that the secret marriage of their heirs that had been discovered a week before, be annulled. They had far more suitable marriages arranged for them and this would simply not do, they said and hurled insults long and hard at the other hoping to clear their name by tainting the others'. So long was this trial that the Allfather missed the birth of his first child, a son.

Frustrated and beyond annoyed by their petty feud, the Allfather wove an enchantment upon them as punishment. Their families would now and forever have the first words spoken to them by their One painted into their skin.

But he was enraged and in his rage, his power grew so great that it extended far beyond the walls of the palace, beyond the spaces between Realms, beyond Death itself and embedded itself into Everything.

Or so legend said. And as was often the case, legend was wrong.

It was actually Odin's father, Bor, who had done so but the rest of the tale was quite accurate. Anyone who bothered to look for the tale itself instead of listening to what everyone else said knew the truth. Pity then, that there were so few on Asgard who cared to know the truth. Loki was one of the few.

He had always thought Soulmarks were an oddity. So arbitrary were the rules, some got theirs when their One was born, some when the crossing of their paths had been set into motion some even got them after they had met only to realise in hindsight that their One had been in front of them the whole time.

People, as Loki had found out the hard way, didn't like being told what to do. They didn't like being told whom they were predestined for and thus Soulmarks meant truly very little. Men and women still fell in love with 'the wrong'uns' and lamented it with mead when it ended. Brothels still operated in full swing even when the flesh revealed would disclose whom they were really meant for.

Life moved on.

Loki Odinson never really expected to get his Soulmark at all, let alone to get it in the middle of lessons. He had just finished his workbook and was busy staring out the window while Thor got scolded for his terrible penmanship when a cold burn began to bloom on his shoulder.

The boy, as he had been then, was surprised but hid it well, deciding to save it for his eyes. After all, Thor hadn't gotten his yet and his brother always sulked for weeks when Loki surpassed him in anything. He wouldn't be surprised if Thor was mortally offended by this even though Loki didn't have anything to do with it at all.

'But I'm the older one!' Thor would say and stomp his foot before refusing to talk for Loki and that just would not do.

He had a prank in mind that called for Thor's brute strength.

So he kept quiet and took to hiding it. From then on, his tunics bore high collars and sleeves even on the warmest of summers and he never took it off even when they went swimming in the creek. Secrets were something Loki adored and he would keep this as long as he could.

It wasn't a particularly nice Soulmark anyway. Why would his One possibly say "This does not bode well", upon meeting him?


	2. Chapter 2

Heralds announced the arrival of the Vanir delegation at the feast and Loki suddenly realised it was all very real. This was happening, the coronation was less than a month away and the preparations were done. The day his brother had been waiting for for centuries would finally pass and Loki couldn't quite put his head around it.

Thor was to be King. _Thor_ was to be King. Thor was to be _King_.

Something had to be done about it and Loki had a plan. Thor would indubitably be enraged with having the ceremony interrupted but the other choice was to have that oaf on the throne and that just would not do. Besides Thor had other things that would occupy his mind well enough.

Things were evidently going well for Thor. When his coronation had been announced he had gotten his Soulmark and gone around showing it off to everyone on Asgard.

 _'Do me a favour and don't be dead, please!'_

Thor was painfully obnoxious about being the first in their little band of friends and brother —Loki wasn't so stupid as to think them his friends as well, he was just the little tag-along—to have gotten the mark apart from Volstagg. Fandral and Hogunn hadn't cared in the least and Volstagg had simply rolled his eyes. It had been hard for Loki at times to stop himself from just telling Thor he'd gotten his Soulmark centuries ago just to watch him sulk but decided otherwise, finding his entertainment in other things.

Like watching Thor strike out with every maiden who worked with Eir. He had assumed that it would be a healer saying those words to him—surprisingly smart of him really—and gone about getting injured to have a reason to visit the Healers. But that had ended far too soon as one by one Thor went through them all only to realise that he had already bedded half of them and they wouldn't be worried about his life anytime soon and the other half had their marks already. So Loki needed a distraction again and he'd found a new one in Sif. Sif—vicious, suspicious Sif—who had been painfully quiet through Thor's boasting but had clearly decided that Soulmarks didn't matter.

Watching Sif fawn over Thor was most amusing, Loki thought and his lip curled behind the golden goblet. Sif, poor, dear Sif was a warrior through and through and she took to the ways of warriors in this way as well. Loki was hard pressed to contain his laughter as she boasted of her skills in battle, much the way Fandral did when chasing skirts. She just didn't understand and probably never would. She would always try to be Thor's equal, to prove that like the Allfather and the Allmother she and Thor would also be matched in every way.

What she didn't understand was that Thor didn't want an equal. He didn't want someone who would fight his battles with him, he wanted a virtuous maiden, delicate as spun sugar that he could protect. No matter how much Thor matured, and Loki doubted that he ever would, he would always want to be the hero in his story and try as she might Sif could never be the simpering pure maiden of Thor's dreams.

So lost was Loki in his musings that he didn't realise that his name was being called out repeatedly and he jerked out of his thoughts to find Thor looming with a ridiculous grin on his face.

"Brother! I have been trying to get your attention for ages, where has your mind wandered off to."

"The same place as ours I expect." Fandral beamed coyly and Loki realised that the women the blond man had had hanging off his arm but a few minutes ago had all but vanished. In fact they stood a few feet away throwing angry glances at Fandral before turning jealous eyes to the table where the Vanir sat. They were all bedecked in their finery—it was a feast in their honour after all—and it made for quite a sight especially as Frigga and Odin chaired the table. More than one young maiden from the delegation was looking over to Thor and Fandral, mostly Thor though Fandral wouldn't admit to it and then giggling furiously. The word coronation dropped from one of them and Loki's sour mood returned.

He had to disrupt Thor's coronation there was no other way. Frost Giants were the ideal scapegoats for it of course- brash, volatile and embittered. It wouldn't take much to incite them to attack. The only question was how to let them into Asgard. The Bifrost was obviously out of question as were the paths that Loki walked. A portal would be ideal, one that would close upon opening and only provide passage for a manageable number of Frost Giants, two or three but those took time to make.

Unless...

He had a stroke of genius as the Archivist—Honivn, a Vanir—spoke softly to one of the ladies and smiled shyly. He could acquire the portal scroll from the Archives discreetly and transcribe them to his requirements. They wouldn't be as good as the ones he might make himself but they would do the job. The trouble however lay with getting them without anyone knowing especially since Honivn always kept a close on him since the incident with the dragon a couple of decades ago that Loki maintained wasn't his fault. But Honivn would be distracted with the delegation around, Loki knew they considered him to be a hero of some sort and always sought him out when they were on Asgard and that gave him his window of opportunity.

But Loki needed more information and caught his mother's eye. She smiled at him and waved him over, exactly what he wanted and he stood to move only to accidentally run into one of the Vanir nobles who was walking away, the same one that Honivn was talking to.

For a moment he was annoyed as the gold chains she wore in her long hair whipped against him, stinging his skin and making a soft pitter-patter sound against his armour, one of them even breaking off, but she was the one who distracted Honivn and one good turn deserved another. Loki picked up the long chain that had fallen to the ground and held it out to her with a smile that only few recognised as fake.

"You seemed to have dropped your...hair adornment."

He was surprised to see her turn deathly pale and she blinked up at him with wide eyes and whispered squeakily, "This does not bode well."

Loki sucked in a breath at the realisation and sighed. His One had terrible timing. He had just finished planning how to let the Frost Giants in to ruin Thor's coronation and now all of a sudden his Soulmark had a name and face to go with the words.

This truly did not bode well.


	3. Chapter 3

He had had _expectations_ of his One. It was strange to realise but realise it he did, especially when those expectations were so ruthlessly being crushed. Loki was suddenly aware that he had watched those with Soulmarks pair up and not pair up and actually _thought_ of what would happen when he would meet his, imagined it. It was absolutely revolting, someone might even accuse him of being a Romantic and he would have no leg to stand on.

But Bonded pairs were supposed to complete and further each other. They were supposed to help make their pair's life better and he had apparently thought his would come in the form of a smart woman who would help him further his ambitions, one who would be the partner he had never had when he planned all his plots alone. He had expected hard edges, blinding intensity and what he was looking at could not be farther from that at all.

She had smile lines and was bizarrely soft, all big amber eyes and red nose, moles dotting what little skin was to be seen.

 _Her_? Really?

Then again, going by her Words she wasn't all that satisfied with him as her One either and Loki frowned.

Why was that? He might not be the favoured Prince of Asgard but he _was_ a Prince and he was Frigga's favourite after all which should by all rights endear him to one of the Vanir and he was the most powerful Mage Asgard had seen to boot, only eclipsed by the Allfather by dint of the Gungnir.

So the realisation that she found him lacking stung hard.

"Milady I-"

"I must go." She breathed and left in a flurry, all but running out and Loki gritted his teeth. For her to make it so obvious that she was unhappy with the match was infuriating.

Only the sound of his mother calling out to him held his temper in check and he walked—not stomped despite what Thor was 'whispering' loudly—and sat himself down with as pleasant a smile as he could manage.

It wasn't that pleasant but it brightened up considerably when he noticed Honivn glaring at him.

"Archivist Honivn, you seem out of sorts."

"I was merely surprised that someone should catch your attention. She doesn't quite fit your...discerning tastes." He said through gritted teeth. It lifted Loki greatly to see him so annoyed and having to hide it in front of the Allfather and Allmother.

"Ah so you know the lady, perhaps you might make the introductions, I was rather hoping to walk with her tomorrow."

"I am afraid I have already engaged the lady for tomorrow."

"Really? I would have thought she was rather young for your attentions."

"The lady is mature beyond her years."

And still he refused to let her name slip. Annoying. Why were the Vanir always annoying? Asgardians were so much easier to coerce into letting information slip. But he had let slip some far more valuable information. He would be busy with her tomorrow which meant the Archives would be at Loki's disposal. He could finally put his plan to action and then there would be nothing left to do but wait and watch. He could see it happening in his mind's eye already, the portal would open right as Thor was about to be crowned and the alarms would ring. The Allfather would have no choice but to stop the coronation to see what had happened and Thor would overreact and speak of war and finally, _finally_ the Allfather would see how unsuited to the throne Thor really was.

He should be happy, vindicated even. But the look on _her_ face, shock and horror marrying with each other marred any sense of satisfaction he might have.

His One hated him. The one person in the whole of Yggdrasil who was supposed to love him hated him. How was he supposed to deal with that?


	4. Chapter 4

It was done. Loki had managed to easily sneak into the archives and retrieve the scroll he needed, finally father would realise how ill-suited to the throne Thor was—at least for the time being, Loki had no doubt that with some time and a little less coddling Thor would learn the lessons he needed to—and there was no turning back for him now. He had been many things in his long years but never had he done anything quite so treasonous. Then again, never had the stakes been so high, the balance of the entire Nine Realms was at stake here, he had to do _something_.

And if his little deed was found out he wouldn't be able to expect any leniency anymore. He knew well enough that most things he got away with would have him flogged were he not the prince but this was far beyond any of that. This was outright treason and he needed to tread carefully. Father always got so worked up about Jotunheim, the little gleam of something that Loki knew to be fear never quite leaving his eye when the Frost Giants were talked about. He'd never quite figured out the secret behind that. The Frost Giants had been defeated _utterly_ , the Casket of Winters taken from them so why was Odin still scared? It made no sense.

None of this made sense, Thor becoming King, his Words being said to him, Honivn being far too interested in his One while he didn't even know her nam-

And just like that he was back to the one thing he was pointedly avoiding thinking of. In many ways getting the scroll so easily had freed up his mind in the worst way possible and an idle mind was something he tried very hard to avoid, it got him thinking all sorts of thing.

He didn't even know her name, all he knew was that she was part of the Vanir delegation and that was all. Not that it mattered, it seemed apparent that she wasn't interested in him at all which made the fact that he could feel her—however intangibly—all the more insulting. It was as if a chord had been pulled between them and however far she was he knew he would only have to follow the tug to find her.

"Brother," Thor roared, clapping a heavy hand on his shoulder. "We missed you in the courtyards today!"

The twinge of affection that Thor had even _noticed_ his absence let alone been affected by it was drowned by the sudden rush of guilt.

"I would not have made very good company today." He admitted only for Thor to snort in good natured contempt.

"Like every other day then."

He was lucky that Loki knew to distinguish his genuine teasing from his highhandedness despite how similar they sounded. Still it was the first time in months that Thor hadn't just waxed on about his own greatness and the guilt grew more acute.

It wasn't that Thor wouldn't make a good king, he would, but in time and only when he had grown up more. There was so much Thor still had left to see of the Nine Realms and he wanted power now, yes, but he would want adventure more and if he realised that too late and only when bound to the throne he would be a terror. Thor hadn't learnt yet how to live with not having the things he wanted and he would take and plunder if it came down to it.

Not that anyone would see it like that. No, it would be assumed that Loki had done it out of nothing more than jealousy which was as ridiculous as could be. He was jealous of Thor, no doubt, Loki wished his tricks and illusions would get the respect they were due, that he might be recognised as the warrior he was without having to swing an axe around like a lunatic but he had never begrudged Thor the throne. It would suit him ill no matter how much he would have liked to be considered for it, the chaos engraved too deep in his soul for him to even consider the throne as a serious objective.

"And what has you thinking so hard now brother? What are you planning?" Thor looked at him speculatively; a glint of thoughtfulness in him that always surprised Loki when it made the appearance. Sometimes Loki was almost certain he was simply playing the fool but so rare were those occasions that he didn't give them much thought.

"I was simply wondering how I could find the Vanir lady from last night's feast."

"You don't know how to find you bed partners?" Thor waggled his eyebrows outrageously and Loki's eyes rolled of their own accord.

He wished. If that was all she was it would have been hideously easy to forget and ignore.

"She forgot this." He said and displayed the chain he had been fiddling with all day, winding and unwinding it around his fingers.

"Why brother, how kind of you!" He said through narrowed eyes.

"It is, isn't it? Unfortunately our dear Honivn seemed quite distressed by the attentions I paid the lady." Loki sighed exaggeratedly knowing well enough that Thor would assume his attentions were to annoy the Archivist. He relaxed, smirking mischievously to Thor's amusement only to tense up as the little tug he had been feeling the whole day tightened. She was near.

So near, in fact, that when they turned the corner to bump into her.

"Your highness!" She called out, standing in front of him looking all kinds of nervous which went rather opposite of his expectations. He'd expected disgust not jittery apology. She was making a habit of defying his hopes and expectations

"I was hoping to have a word." She continued.

"Very well." Thor said magnanimously and her eyes darted to his brother who was doing his best to look imposing and majestic and widened as if she'd only noticed him there and Loki inwardly preened.

"She means me brother dear." Loki cut in and Thor shot him an annoying smile.

"Is that so, brother?" He teased.

"Yes," She answered instead looking apologetic. "I was hoping to apologise for my rudeness the night before."

Thor frowned, miffed and Loki tried very hard not to laugh. It was easy enough because he was partly annoyed at Thor's bafflement that anyone might want to talk to him.

"Him? You're sure?"

She smiled and it became very obvious that this was a person meant to smile. She wore happy very well. Loki wondered what that was like, being so happy and content.

"I'm certain."

"Very well, I relinquish my brother unto you milady and implore you to please keep him out of mischief." Thor bowed deeply letting go of Loki's shoulder and all but pushing him onto her.

"What's wrong with a bit of mischief?" She asked far too innocently looping her arm through his and leading him away before his brother could answer her.

"If you're going to kidnap me I demand to know your name." Loki said tartly.

"I don't see you trying too hard to introduce yourself either." She pointed out.

"You already know who I am."

"Why would you assume that?"

"So you don't know who I am?"

"I do." She admitted and Loki realised she'd pulled him into the west wing which was all but deserted at the moment and wondered when she'd had the time to find that out. "Doesn't mean I don't merit an introduction."

She was either teasing him or it was deliberate missishness on her part. Either way, Loki wanted to know her name with a desperation that surprised him and he stopped where they were, knowing that no one would overhear them now.

"Loki, Prince of Asgard, at your service." He bowed and she curtsied in return, arm curving gracefully over her waist as was tradition, eyelashes fluttering low for the briefest of moments even as she maintained eye contact.

"Lady Arha of Vanaheim, at yours."

Finally, he had a name.


	5. Chapter 5

The faint tug of the bond from a few hours before was a lot more intense now and he felt it in his bones. It felt like warmth, sunshine, the comfort of his bed, as if home was calling out to him and the signs all said that his home resided in her.

Curious thing. Would it do the same when he was out in battle? How else would it manifest, he had heard of some Bonded couples who could share thoughts and emotions as well.

It sounded tedious really.

"I didn't realise it was supposed to feel like this," She said softly and ran a thumb over her collarbone. It turned in circles and Loki watched, slowly getting hypnotised by the motion, following the line of her hand to her arm, her shoulder, her neck, lingering on her mouth before eventually meeting eyes that were looking at him in wry amusement

Loki realised she'd just caught him ogling her and cleared his throat.

"The books say it feels different for everybody, what is it like for you?" He asked quickly. The little quirk of her eyebrow made it obvious that she hadn't bought his little distraction but she humoured him.

"Like cold water from the mountain springs on a very hot day." Something sharp flickered in her eyes, a brief moment of calculation that had him standing up a bit straighter but it disappeared just as quickly. "So, what else do these books of yours say?"

"That there's no way to break a Soul bond besides death."

"I'm aware."

"So you're stuck with feeling this connection for the rest of your days. We should be able to keep it from progressing by maintaining a distance though."

"Why would we do that?" She looked at him like he was an idiot and a little swell of rage made its way through him.

"Because you clearly don't want this."

She turned to him with shock so genuine that he had to believe it. "What gave you that idea?"

" _This does not bode well."_ He quoted her Words and she flushed.

"That- well, it certainly wasn't expected." She bit her lip and his attention was drawn to it again. He just about shook himself out of it when the mouth began moving again.

"I got curious about the—well, about you— and tried a hand at prophecy. The few bits I saw in the weavings made it sound like I wouldn't be meeting you anytime soon so...I wasn't expecting an Aesir."

Her eyes turned conflicted and she frowned, biting her lip again and he couldn't stop himself from reaching up to her face and pulling the flesh from between neat rows of teeth. Her eyebrows flew up and her mouth dropped open and when he realised what he'd done Loki cleared his throat and turned his face to the hall.

"Is me being an Asgardian a problem?"

She clucked her tongue in lieu of an answer and sagged. "I grew up in the hills to the north. The warriors of old brought me up and they remember the war well."

"The war with Jotunheim?" Loki couldn't see how that made his being an Asgardian a problem.

"Between Vanaheim and Asgard." She said sharply with a bite to her voice that he didn't even know her capable of and he turned to see her gritting her teeth. There was an odd glint to her eyes when she looked at him, careful, calculating. He felt as though he was being weighed on a scale and for the life of him he didn't know where he fell on it. She kept on surprising him and he didn't know if he was enthralled by it or annoyed. "It would have been better in the eyes of my kith and kin if you were Jotun. I wouldn't have met you of course since the pathways between Utgard and the Nine Realms have been closed, but it would have been preferred."

Disbelief flooded him. "Frost giants? Those monsters?"

"Are they really monsters Prince Loki or simply the other side in a war? If I believed everything i heard of the Aesir...well, I would be honour bound to slaughter you where you stand and then kill myself as atonement for being Bonded to you." She frowned. "There are very specific rituals to be followed in fact. Your blood would be involved along with the evocation of certain Gods."

He took a measured, careful step away from her while she thought on it and sought to distract her. He didn't really think her capable of laying a hand on him, but it was best to stay on guard around someone who'd professed to having to kill you under different circumstances. "What tales do they tell of the Frost giants on Vanaheim then?"

"They are proud. The kind of proud that doesn't accept having to answer to the Allfather's steward. The kind that would rather die than be ruled by a puppet king. That they believe in absolutes, that they would rather live in ruins that were their own than suffer the indignity of their enemies' largesse. And that before the war, Jotunheim was beautiful. That their castles of ice made it so even nights were filled with light as the diamond like spires reflected the light of their suns wherever they may be. That their magic users, the Volar, could weave the most intricate of spells with simply their will, that they could bend he threads of the Norns themselves to carve out a new destiny."

"Fascinating." Loki breathed the words out. He had never heard of the Frost giants being spoken as such. Perhaps that was what he would do when this little stage show that was Thor's coronation was done, he could travel to other worlds and see what they had to say about the other denizens and not just seek out their grimoires. He should have done this far before, understanding people's perceptions and using them was just another way of gaining power and he could always do with more power.

"It is, isn't it? Pity we can't find out for ourselves."

It sounded familiar, the way she said it. Something niggled in the back of his head even as he agreed with her on the outside. There was something intimate about it, something he knew so well and yet he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

But before they could continue a servant found him, face red with the exertion of running to tell him the Allfather wanted to see him.

He was annoyed at having his conversation cut short and made no move to hide it, doing his utmost to annoy everyone there until even the Allmother couldn't help but wish he was a child that could be sent to bed early. And then Loki realised where he'd heard that tone before, it was the same goading sibilant way in which he convinced Thor to do things that hadn't even crossed the oaf's mind. The Lady Arha had been trying to get him to use his paths to travel to Utgard.

What business did she have with Jotunheim?


	6. Chapter 6

Four days and yet nothing. Loki had stretched out his ears, tried to coax all of the entire Vanir envoy to loosen their lips and yet had learned nothing more about Arha.

It was vexing.

The Lady Arha had but to drop his name in conversation to find out about him, not his secrets of course, those he kept to himself, but he was still a known person even on Asgard where he was ignored. But she was not spoken of at all, even Honivn dropped her praises in the most vague oblique ways, the woman remained a mystery and yet...

They deferred to her, all of them. Not in the blatant way they did for the Regents, they did not bow deeply or speak in low tones but they still turned to her, asked for her, wanted to hear her speak and she did surprisingly little of it. Every single word was measured carefully before being said and those words served to endear her to them all. Loki knew his silvertongue could rouse and twist people into going to war but Arha might even manage to get them to fight her battles for was the first but he wasn't the only Vanir to sing her praises, the Captain of the Vanir king's guards displayed an almost fatherly disposition toward her which was strange as well.

That wasn't to say that she was liked by everyone, the Regents themselves were quite derisive of her to the point of hatred. The only thing Loki had learnt of her from them was that she was a bumpkin form the Northern Mountains, a little upstart. The Little Country Girl they called her when she wasn't listening and scoffed while she smiled brightly.

But that was another thing that was curious, why was she here at all? Why was she a part of the envoy when she was so utterly disliked by her peers. She was the lone Vanir there who held no ties to the Court of Asgard either by blood or marriage, as far as he knew her estate held no trade agreements either.

Why really was she here? What interest did she hold in Jotunheim?

So perhaps Loki was a bit suspicious but he thought himself justified. But for the flash of what he had seen, for the knowledge of how she had tried to goad him Loki would have taken Lady Arha to be exactly what she looked to be. A young noble, not quite frivolous, not quite serious. Charming but not quite that memorable, unique among the Vanir for her youth but nothing more. And yet…

She had tried to _use_ him, manipulate him and the worst of it was that if it weren't for the summons that interrupted them, she might even have succeeded and it was distressing that someone he had known for all of a few minutes would have so much power over him.

So he took to...well, not avoiding her but when in moments of absent mindedness he found his feet following the bond connecting them he turned around. It was caution, not avoidance, at least that was what he told himself. Loki had learnt a long time ago that he would need to watch out for himself because no one else would do it for him.

But he had also learnt that he did not have the willpower to stay away from anything that interested him and she did interest him. So on the fifth day of waiting and watching he gave in to the urge and decided to simply seek her out to get his answers.

He found her hiding in the convenient shadow formed due to an extinguished flame and a pillar. But it would be wrong to say found, were it not for their bond he wouldn't have guessed that she was there and were it not for their bond he would not have recognised her when she was disguising herself as a servant. As it stood his eyes had simply slipped over her once already, an unnoticed entity.

"What are you—?" The words slipped out of his mouth but she didn't let him finish and simply tugged him into the little dark niche, her hand clamped over his mouth as footsteps sounded and her eyes went sharp.

"— _get it done, I want her dead before the coronation, the sooner the better."_ Loki was flummoxed to find that it was the Vanir King who was saying that. He must have been very much distracted b y Thor's coronation to have missed out on this, he'd always taken a pride in knowing things people didn't want known and considering the hushed cold tones in which he spoke the King certainly didn't want any of _this_ known.

" _I've made the arrangements."_ The High Advisor simpered.

" _That's what you told me last time."_

" _And if that crazy old bastard hadn't taken the arrow for her it would have worked."_

Arha's hand on his mouth tightened its grip and he looked at her only to be surprised.

" _Lets hope that doesn't happen again, then. I'd be terribly sorry to have to execute you for failing to carry out your orders."_ He certainly didn't sorry at all.

The Advisor twittered nervously. _"No, no that won't happen. She's alone here, no friends, no family, no one to protect her."_

" _See to it and come up with a decent lie for the Allfather."_

They parted ways and the footsteps faded and Arha finally took her hand off his mouth. She looked different, not just because she wore the garb of a servant or the paler, forgettable locks but the expression on her face was hungry, her chin held tight and eyes narrowed, lost in what was clearly not a pleasant thought.

"How quaint, politics, murder and intrigue." Loki had missed this, missed sticking his nose into others' affairs. It just wasn't the same fun dealing with his own problems, not nearly as satisfying. "Who are they trying to kill, I wonder?" He said absently. If they were planning on lying to the Allfather then it was only Loki's duty to find out more, it wouldn't do for people to take Asgard so lightly. And if it put the King in his pocket, well, that was just a happy accident wasn't it.

"Me."

"Hmm?" Loki was lost in thought, making plans for Vanaheim and he didn't quite register what she was talking about, only how heavy the word sounded. She looked up at him through her lashes, eyes curiously dewy and quirked her lips in a mockery of a smile.

"The person they're planning to kill," Ah, so she knew the answer to that. But wait, she'd said it was— "Me."


	7. Chapter 7

Arha watched him with a smile as he paced his quarters. He would have have thought her amused were it not for the fact that he had been watching her for what felt like aeons and knew that the stillness was nothing natural. He had watched her unable to keep from moving, like a newborn deer she was always twitching and now she was still.

She was being _hunted_.

"Why would they want to kill you?"

"I don't know."

Loki's eyes narrowed at that and he stopped abruptly. She didn't _know_ , but she could always—, "Guess."

She shrugged heavily, as if even that was a tiring thing. "We were...There were raiders going around, ransacking villages, burning them down and we were stopping them."

"Why would the King want you dead for that? Surely coming to the aid of people isn't something to be condemned?"

"I can't be certain of anything."

"But you have your suspicions?"

"We were able to...gain some information."

"You had your spies." Loki interpreted correctly.

"Of sorts."She let out a huff of breath. "Every time the villages were destroyed The Steward called for the Aesir and they always came too late."

"Your point being?"

"The Allfather had to recompense him for the damages. Something in the treaties, I don't know the exact wording but it lined his pocket and, well, we were costing him quite a bit of weregild."

"We?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course 'we', I can't very well go around defending entire villages against groups of bandits on my lonesome.

"Yes but 'we' isn't the one being targeted, that's just you." Loki snapped and she swallowed. Arha knew what he meant. "Why?"

"I was one of the leaders so to speak. I mean not exactly—" She began flailing again, not nervous but still twitchy and he was glad to see that. The stillness had been disconcerting to say the least. "I was just one of the more experienced ones and my station meant I had resources in the citadel as well and, yes."

"Yes?" As if that was really the best way to end it and she cleared her throat shifting on the armchair.

"There may also be some lingering animosity towards my family."

"In what way?"

Arha took a long shaking breath. "In that my parents were unhappy with the reliance on Asgard and wanted to ratify a different treaty and they were executed for making noises and charged for various instances of apparent treason."

"Ah."

"Yes."

That complicated things. Arha had already told him she was raised in a place that held no little animosity for the Aesir and if the executed parents were along the same line it meant that she would find no supporters here, not except for him.

Which was probably why they'd brought her here, he realised. After all, Loki had wondered why she was a part of the envoy and there was his answer. They wanted to isolate her and a death in a foreign land was much more easier to explain and lie about than one at home.

But there was still the matter of the Vanir King abusing the treaties laid down, one Loki himself could substantiate as being true.

"The Allfather—"

"Will take the side of his steward and his wife's family. Has no reason to believe me."

"He might believe his son." Even as Loki said it he did wonder about it. Would he ? Would he listen to Loki, the God of Lies?

She looked just about ready to cry, a hitch in her voice as she stared at him like she couldn't believe what he was saying and he just knew immediately that was more to this, more layers to this whole affair than he could fathom. "Loki they—they'll say I bewitched you. Lied to you, used you for revenge."

"Will they?" That was hard to believe. Loki wasn't the one fooled often, it was usually him doing the manipulating. And what exactly did she mean by revenge?

"They will. The Allfather was the one who signed off on the execution orders for my parents. Under the advice of the Steward, of course but...yes." She smiled weakly even as he reeled.


	8. Chapter 8

_Her heart was beating fast, faster even than her breath and she could hear it loud and clear. The sword in her left hand trembled and under the bandages strapping it down her right arm tried to move, tried to help but before she knew it the sword was cluttering out of her hand and she was knocked down to the ground by a hard blow._

 _He loomed over her and she glared right back, hurting and unhappy._

" _This is all for naught." She pouted and he raised a disdainful eyebrow. "Why can't I just fight with my right arm?"_

" _You think the enemy cares that you fight better with your right hand?" His voice lowered to a sinister whisper, heavy arm coming down upon her right shoulder threateningly, "That they won't just break it to make things easier? Maybe even cut it off?"_

 _She whimpered at the thought but was too frustrated, too annoyed, too pained to stop. "Who is this enemy anyway? How do I know it's not you?" She spat out but he grinned in answer, white teeth glowing against the dark scarred face. She followed the spidery lines on his face up to the unseeing glass eye and her anger cooled just enough to soften her sulk._

" _You don't. So you learn to fight against_ _ **everyone**_ _. There are traitors everywhere, waiting for you to slip up. It wouldn't do for you to be unprepared." She breathed heavily for a good minute, holding back ugly sobs just waiting to be let out at the thought of him ever betraying her before standing up and received a proud look for her efforts that had her chin rising in response. "The battlefield is waiting for you, little one, nourished by the blood of your kin. So pick up the sword," He raised his own up high, its shadow falling over her head like a dark premonition, "And_ _ **fight**_ _."_

 _She listened to him of course. She'd always listen to him and she picked up the sword in her shaking hand and calmed herself down, raising it against him._

Loki woke gasping to a panic and pain that wasn't his. His heart was leaping out of his chest and he remembered his dream – no, not his dream, Arha's dream that had been shared and understood it was her pain, it was her panic and sat back.

It had been hard to carry on a conversation with her once she'd revealed that little titbit, not that she hadn't enjoyed watching him try, and she'd gone back with a promise from him to talk about it later. Later of course meaning when he knew more about it all.

That stung the most really, how little he knew about what was going on. He had only her word to go on and he didn't know her well enough to trust her and Vanaheim had never really been of any interest to him. It was their ally and beyond that held nothing of particular value, Nidavellir with the dwarves and their craftsmanship was much more to his taste, he had always thought Vanaheim to be more or less and extension of Asgard, a statement that he now knew would have Arha scoffing in disgust.

A sudden flash of rage confused him though. Oh, Loki wasn't unaware that he had a temper on him, he flew off the handle many a times but he hadn't been angry, annoyed or anything like that so why did he _–_

Ah, it wasn't his anger it was hers. That made a lot more sense, his anger was never quite as self righteous as this, it was more a cold burn than anything else. He tried not to think too much about how much their connection had deepened just in the past few hours that had him experiencing her emotions but it didn't change what had happened, she was _angry_.

And he was very curious as to why.

He couldn't sleep and he knew that if she was this angry she wasn't very asleep either and it took split second' time to decide to go see her. He cloaked himself with his magic and followed the bond to where ever it would lead him and found himself in front of a door to a chamber in the East wing that should never have been used. He knew that those chambers were a source of great consternation for any visiting envoys for being far too open and vulnerable to defend properly. It was only ever ever given to the most unimportant guest or, as was apparent, those who were to be assassinated.

All of a sudden he heard a loud sound from inside, a bitten off scream and didn't think twice before going in. Thor would have made fun of him for it, that the usually calm and level headed Loki would actually do something as mundane as rush, but rush he did.

He didn't know know quite what to expect. When he first met her he had thought her too sweet to be someone who might be meant for him but then she had proven him wrong and then there was that dream they'd shared.

But even so he was surprised to find her fighting off a man with a fair bit of ease. He knew him, Loki realised, or at least knew of him. Had seen him lurking in Knowhere when he had been dealing with the Collector. It must have taken a pretty penny for him to be here, those types always hated leaving Off-World.

Not that it would do him any good any more. Loki's entry had distracted him for a split second and Arha who hadn't really even needed that took full advantage, bringing her hand to his throat twisting it away taking the flesh of his entire throat out with the turn of her wrist.

She sighed and rolled her eyes before smiling at Loki, "You missed all the fun." She said conversationally while taking off what appeared to be claws attached to a bar concealed on the inside of her palm. They were what had ripped the man's throat out, not unlike the way the large cats that were native to Vanaheim did to their prey.

The gossamer sleeves of her nightgown were shining red now, drenched and the same dark black red splattered across her cheek and jaw in a mockery of her freckles. Arha picked up the assassin's weapon, a thin, sharp blade and struck it through the corpse's heart.

"That's a bit much, don't you think?" Loki said distastefully although the careful way Arha was watching the body spoke of a reason where he saw none.

"Wait and watch." She said and ripped open the shirt of the assassin and Loki saw what she meant. His veins had turned black and dark, some sort of venom then. It spread through the veins and then made its way through the entire body, turning it dark and hard, brittle. It was turning the flesh to stone Loki realised and knelt as well, fascinated by this. He had never come across this particular one before. It had spread all over and Loki reached to touch but at the graze of his fingertips it broke and turned to dust leaving nothing but torn clothes and a clean blade behind.

"Fascinating," Loki heard himself say and his eyes lifted from the newly disintegrated corpse to the place Arha had been calling her home for the past few days. Less walls, more windows, too close to the ground, anyone could simply climb up without requiring much effort and the roof of the armoury was so close as to form a bridge between the streets of the citadel and the palace. He could see why this was not a dwelling of choice for the dignitaries. "We should move you to my chambers."

"What?!" Loki hadn't seen her this surprised since the very first time they met and he said her Words to her.

"It's not safe here."

She spluttered."B-but," Loki wondered what reason she could possibly give for refusing. Would it be something like what Lady Sif would say, that safe was a state of mind and she had no need for people like _Loki_ to come to her rescue, or would it be what Volstagg would say, that she couldn't bear to live with someone who ate like a bird. "But it wouldn't be _proper_!"

And Loki, who had just seen her rip a man's throat out, laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

Sharing a bed was an intimate thing. Or at least, it would be if Loki could just fall asleep.

For all her reservations about sharing a bed Arha had fallen asleep quickly. She was still, too still and with her hands folded in her lap that he half expected her to start drifting away while he would have to raise the bow with the flaming arrow notched to set fire to her funeral boat. Her chest barely moved with breath while his began to fly fast and he sat up in bed, her light slumber broken almost instantly as he glared at her.

"You're driving me mad!" He spat out and she sat up as well, cocking her head in confusion. "You're not a corpse, stop pretending to be one."

Arha smiled and he wriggled as he felt her amusement in his head, like a tickling brush of feathers.

Every bond was different and yet he couldn't quite understand why theirs was growing in such leaps and bounds. There was that odd blanketed calm in the back of his head that wasn't his and it unnerved him. It was hers he knew, he could tell by the sudden spike of emotion that he could see on her face sometimes, echoed by the break in calm but the calm…

Loki was _never_ calm. Or tranquil, or at peace or any of those things that she was and to suddenly _feel_ her calm was beyond odd.

She was a bit terrifying. Because Loki, Loki always took an interest in people but they rarely interested him. Arha did.

She shrugged and leaned back, her hands crossing behind her head to cradle it as she yawned. The long sleeves of her gown fell back to reveal ink and scars that he hadn't seen, unclear in the shadows thrown by the dim light and when Loki conjured more light she closed her eyes, eyelashes fluttering against her cheek.

He thought it would be his Words but it wasn't. Asgardian inks were filled with lines that curved, knots and branches to anchor themselves to Yggdrasil, the straight lines too much like the runes of the Words and it was assumed to be a taboo to have anything imitating those straight lines anywhere on skin.

The dark ink running up her arms was nothing like what he had seen. It was all hard lines, bands filled with web like nebulous patterns of thin bars, triangles coloured in black, arrows shaded in grey and more. A long thin white line, a scar marred the right sleeve of ink.

"How have I not seen those before?" Because they extended all the way down to her wrist and he knew he had seen that part bare and lacking ink before.

"I covered them before. They can be construed to be a sign of aggression. Taking that risk here seemed unwise." Construed, not misconstrued. They had meaning then, a meaning that she needed to hide. "These patterns are older than Odin. During the War," And he knew her well enough now to know that she was not talking of the one with Jotunheim, "The Resistance wore similar patterns. They indicate fealty to Vanaheim, to the homeland and to its people."

Loki knew well how history lied, how stories were changed to give glory to one and take from another. He knew that it was part of what Asgard had always done, part of the reason why they were still so feared but he had only ever seen it from the eyes of the victor as a necessity. But Vanaheim was one Realm he didn't expect such from. Perhaps it was simply because of his mother and Hogunn, that they never resented Asgard for the hand it had dealt them. Even when they were there for quests and such it had always seemed like little more than an extension of Asgard where Thor was lauded for his feats of strength while everyone else faded into the background.

Then again they wouldn't would they, he realised. Frigga and Hogun, they had spent centuries thinking of Asgard as their home. Even when Hogunn went back to Vanaheim it was only to visit. He didn't belong there anymore than Loki did.

And there Loki was, bound to one who had her rebellion against everything his family stood for etched into her kin. It took being in bed with the enemy to new realms.

"It surprises me that they let you live till now." It was how things were done on Asgard. Stirrings of discontent were rare but not unusual and though there had never truly been a revolution of any kind, there had been a bit of trouble centuries ago, when Loki was still a child. While he didn't know exactly how they had been taken care of, all signs of it wiped out of existence to the point where it was little more than urban legend, so he was all but certain it wasn't pleasant.

"They didn't take us seriously when we started out and by the time we were a proper threat there were too many who supported us. Any official action they could take would have to be mandated by the Allfather and it would be difficult to explain how they had let us grow to this extent without revealing their own failures. Thus the assassination attempts." She slid down the headboard and yawned again, eyes turning teary with the effort to stay awake. He had seen the same expression on Thor's face so many times during lesson that he couldn't help but crack a weak grin.

"Weren't you the one feeling shy about sharing a bed?" He drawled recalling her former anxiety at sharing chambers and she flushed and glared.

"It's only for a few days anyway." She settled back to sleep and he followed her lead, turning off the bright lights and closing his eyes. "Tomorrow's the coronation and after that it's just a few days of feasting." She continued softly and bade him sweet dreams.

And Loki's eyes snapped open.

Tomorrow was the coronation. Tomorrow Thor would prove his unsuitability to the throne. Tomorrow Loki would have committed the worst treason in all of Asgard.

Tomorrow the Frost giants would come.


	10. Chapter 10

Loki could only grit his teeth as the Allfather heaped praise upon Thor. It wasn't unusual of course, but it rankled. If the Lady Sif could see him now she would smirk and mouth 'Jealous?' but even her attention was riveted to Thor.

"-its power has no equal. As a weapon to destroy, or as a tool to build-" He said of Mjolnir and Loki contained the snort that threatened to escape him. A tool to build, really? As if Thor had ever built anything in his entire life. He knew only destruction, only war.

The portal had already been activated. Loki had felt the shift, always had been sensitive to the changes when a doorway was opened and this was no different. The air tasted different, crisp somehow and a hint of the different magic of Jotunheim bleeding into Asgard, so small that had Loki not been looking for it he would never have felt it.

But they were taking too long. Thor was done with his oaths and just about to be proclaimed the new King of Asgard, if only they would-

"Frost giants" Odin said and though the words were spoken softly they were heard by everyone and murmurs rose, rippling through the crowds that had gathered. Only when he raised Gungnir and hit it down onto the ground did the whispers stop but the damage was done and fear and restlessness was in the air.

"Thor, Loki." the Allfather commanded them and while the Einherjar herded the crowd, calming them down the three made their way down to the Weapons vault and then all Loki had to do was nothing.

He had simply to watch as Thor simply proved everything that Loki had been saying for months and months on end now, that he was immature, too hungry for war, too stubborn to listen to advice. And the Allfather marched out and ordered the crowd to disperse as Thor's coronation was deferred to...well, who knew. He would have to prove himself worthy now, Odin would be watching him carefully.

It was done. Finally Loki could have some peace.

* * *

"You did this." Arha said as she flipped through his books. Loki had come for but a second, only to sit for a bit as the adrenaline of a scheme complete coursing through him abated. Odin hadn't looked at him even once, and while it would have been a point of consternation at any other time it was a relief then because it meant his father did not suspect him of this. He was safe, or so he thought.

"I don't know what you mean." He said simply but she laughed.

"You forget, I feel echoes of what you feel."

"And what does that have to do with anything?"

"You were relieved, happy that your brother wasn't crowned."

"My views on Thor rising to the throne have never been secret. He is unfit for it." Loki crooned but a flash of guilt still persisted. "For now at least."

"You were relieved, happy, guilty, worried even."

"The Frost giants-"

"Not surprised." Loki swallowed but Arha continued, her cool voice never faltering and she stalked towards him knowingly. "Never surprised."

Loki found himself backing away from her. A panic was rising in him, if she told anyone, if she even suggested it...Loki wasn't liked and it wouldn't take much more than suspicion to have him painted as a traitor.

"You lied to me Loki," She purred and he found he had run out of space, cornered in his own room, pathetic. But still the thought persisted, when had he ever lied to her? "You let me believe there was no way to Jotunheim."

The panic left him as he pondered that. In the rush of everything else, of her near assassination, of the coronation he had forgotten about her strange obsession with Utgard.

Loki stayed silent, waiting for her to say something but she didn't say a word either. She just smiled that strange half smile and looked at him with wide unblinking eyes.

"Loki!" cried Thor and threw his doors open and Loki and Arha sprang apart. "Most glorious battle awaits us!" His brother continued having not even noticed Arha in all his excitement.

"What in the Nine Realms-"

"We're going to Jotunheim to teach those Frost giants a lesson." Thor continued with a too wide grin that belied his anger.

"Can I come too?" Arha said excitedly and Thor's smile dimmed briefly before regaining its brilliance.

"The more the merrier."

What sort of madness was this?


	11. Chapter 11

"What's your interest in Jotunheim?" Loki asked as soon as Thor left.

"I have varied interests in Jotunheim. Laufey's grandfather courted my grandmother at one time, did you know? This was before Odin's time even and there weren't any Words. It didn't quite work out but they maintained a deep respect for one another. The wedding gift he gave my grandmother has been passed down into the family for millennia."

Blatant deflection, Arha's interest was far too blatant to be related to some age-old family connections. Connections to Laufey, Norns above what was she thinking giving him that excuse?

"Alright fine, like I said I tried my hand at prophecy before and I saw some things that don't make sense. I want answers and I won't get them here."

"What things?" He asked and she finally looked at him without an ounce of that amusement she always affected.

"Loki, leave it. When I get my answers I will tell you but I'm not going to destroy someone's entire way of life for some little bit of speculation."

"But you will tell me?"

"Yes." She said laughingly as if there wasn't even a question about that. That wasn't expected. Actual willingness to share information once it was confirmed. Of course, if she didn't tell him, he would find out anyway. It was only a matter of time.

"You know you do _need_ for me to tell you this." She said flicking a dagger his way and he dodged. It was _his_ dagger, how the hell did she get it? She grinned victoriously once she had his attention but it calmed down. "I don't have a lot of secrets but what I do have I keep to myself. You might be able to guess at its nature if things go like I expect them to in Jotunheim, but you aren't you getting them any other way."

"You underestimate me."

"I think you want me to underestimate you, that is half the battle won isn't it?" She smiled again. Loki was growing to be cautious of her smiles. Thor bellowed outside his room for him and in tandem, they rolled their eyes. He walked over to the door and held it open.

"After you."

Just as he turned to follow her out in full view of Thor and the rest, she reached up and brushed her knuckles against his cheek. "Aren't you sweet?"

The flush on his face went luckily unnoticed as The Warriors Three, Lady Sif and Thor all gaped.

* * *

Loki was tense as he rode the horse, Arha sitting behind him. They were almost at the Bifrost observatory and he was getting scared. The servant he'd sent off with the message should have reached Odin by now, they _should_ have been stopped, why then could he already see Heimdall's helmet curving over his head.

This was not good, not good at all.

And through it all, he felt Arha's amusement even as her fingers curled loosely against his overcoat.

Then there was no time to think, they were there.

"You're not dressed warmly enough."

"I'm sorry?"

Did he know? What did he know? How did he know? Loki had been quiet, had no one to tell it all to even if he could, only Arha knew and she wouldn't tell. Not when it jeopardised her little trip to Utgard.

"Do you think you can deceive me?"Heimdall announced and Loki tried to diffuse the tension that was growing

"You must be mistake-"

"Enough!" Thor yelled and beside him, Arha stepped closer, a flash of anger running through her. Loki turned to look at her and found her staring at Thor with a blankness that belied her true thought. "Heimdall may we pass?"

"Never has an enemy slipped my watch until this day. I wish to know how that happened."

"Then tell no one where we have gone until we've returned." Thor demanded brashly and Loki was beginning to see that resistance would be pointless, one way or another they would be going to Jotunheim. "Understand?"

Heimdall let Thor pass easy enough but then flicked his gaze at Loki and then Arha.

"I cannot let the one who bears fealty to Vanaheim pass." He announced. "The Bifrost of Asgard remains open only to those to swear to the Allfather. Indeed the little Vanir has slipped my gaze too many times."

The little flash of rage turned incandescent before flickering cold, so cold. And Loki put his hand to Arha's wrist for fear that she would strike Heimdall.

"Those who bear fealty to Vanaheim, I see." Arha said, soft and sibilant and looked deliberately, pointedly at Hogunn.

Loki had known Hogunn for a long time. They had grown up together after all and many a fond tale of Vanaheim had been told in his dry voice. He was proud, almost painfully so it was a point of consternation for Loki that he had never gotten under his skin the way he had with others and yet when Arha looked at him then, Hogunn looked away in shame.

And for all her rage, her pride grew.

"T'is a better mark to wear than others." She turned to Loki with a pout. "It seems I cannot join you on this adventure."

Loki pulled her aside quickly, "Go to the Allfather, tell him of this and get him to stop Thor." Quick a she could he took off his signet and pushed it into her hands. "Seek audience with him on my behalf, work fast lest Thor brings war upon us."

She put her palm upon his cheek and looked behind him to where Thor was probably waiting, impatient as always. "Watch your back. I'm afraid without me there, you leave it open." Her eyes narrowed at someone behind him before she turned back to him. "The Ice hides secrets. Do not be too quick to judge them would you?"

And with those cryptic words, she swept back and was up on his horse riding it hard and fast, faster than he had thought she would, back to the citadel, hopefully to do what he asked her to. Loki turned back to where his brother and his brother's friends were stood, waiting for him with a strangely heavy heart and an awkward and sad sort of happiness.

No one had ever offered to have his back in a battle before.

* * *

The threads did not lie. It was one of the first things Arha had learnt. There were only a few impossibilities in the world and the concept of the threads lying was one of them. Oh, their meaning twisted and turned of course, they were never utterly absolute. Only the skilled weavers could tell what they meant.

The skilled weavers and those that had a sincere and true wish to know.

And the threads had told her that her One was of the land of Jotunheim, a true Singer of the Heartsong of Utgard. And so he _had_ to be a Jotun.

The Threads did not lie. People, however, did. It did not surprise her that Odin Borson had lied but the nature of it was still utterly heinous. To raise a child to one day realize that everything about his life was false, it was a deception most vulgar. What means was Loki to serve, what purpose? Odin certainly hadn't brought him here out of the kindness of his own heart, no, if that was ever the case then Loki wouldn't have grown to be the seething mass of rage and discontent that he was even as he tried so very hard. A single day in Asgard and she could see it, how did his 'family' still stay blind?

Still she kept hope that perhaps she had simply read the threads wrong, that Loki wasn't a fledgling child, taken from his home, that perhaps he wouldn't have his world collapse on him when he realised it. But she didn't deal in hope and wishes, no she needed answers even if only for his sake. Here on Asgard she had the time to look for them, time that she didn't have back home but the question remained, how was she to find them? Jotunheim may hold the answers but whom would she ask the questions?

Still, it did not do to dwell in thoughts. Not when there was work to be done.

"Allfather," She said as soon as she entered the room. "Prince Loki bid me to seek audience with you."

Odin let out a deep heavy exasperated breath and his words made Arha inconceivably angry. "What has the boy done now?"

"It might be better discussed without the ears of others to hear." Upon Odin's slight nod the nobles, some of them the roaches of Vanaheim glared at her and left. The Einherjar however remained. "I did mean all ears."

Odin snorted. "And what might possibly require such privacy?"

She took out the ring Loki had given her to show him and he turned pale, lip quivering with something, what it was Arha did not know. He waved a hand and the Einherjar left even as Frigga entered.

"Odin?" Frigga asked him but he shook his head and it was to Arha that he spoke.

"What was it you wanted to tell me?"

"The Prince Thor has set off to Jotunheim to discover the identity of the traitor and perhaps vengeance for having his coronation ruined. The Prince Loki went with him as well, along with their usual companions."

Frigga turned to Odin with a tremble voice. "Odin-"

"Once again I must play shepherd to my wayward sons." He said and rushed off, Gungnir clanking heavily with him. When the noise faded and Odin was beyond sight Arha found herself the subject of Frigga's scrutiny.

"Allmother."

"Loki gave you his signet?"

"Of his own volition."

"It would have to be, anyone attempting to take it off him against his will would find themselves being entertained in Helheim. He does not give it away so lightly."

Arha looked at the ring in her hand. Gold with a large emerald with Yggdrasil etched into it, a symbol of the House of Odin's high mage. He gave himself so freely to the ones who lied to him with such ease.

"It was given to me in fear, fear of what his brother would wreak." Frigga wrung her hands and Arha, who had kept her tongue to herself till now let it loose. "Though I think he does not know quite how much he really needs to be afraid. He will learn it now." Frigga turned paler, leaning heavily against the throne and Arha could feel the surge of emotions from Loki through their tether, shock, disbelief, pain, confusion and sent her own little bits of peace and calm through to him.

He would never ask for it but he needed it.

"You know."

"There are things I have seen in the threads." Frigga would understand that at least. Arha knew it was the only piece of Vanaheim the Allmother still carried with her.

"What else could we have done?" Frigga said softly, trying to escape judgement. There was no place for her to hide though, not in this open, gold monstrosity that Asgard called a throne room.

"You forced your lies upon a child and then condemned him for becoming their god, Allmother."

"And you, daughter of Una and Sigere, what interest do you hold in my son?"

Arha had never known her parents. They were people from fairytales that her godfather told her, nothing more. But to hear their names spoken so easily by the Allmother as if it was not her clan that had asked for their heads, as if it was not her husband who had given it to them, _that_ would not do.

"Want to know what the daughter of your victims is doing with your son? Do you think perhaps I want vengeance?" Frigga's silence said it all. "I am not your firstborn Allmother," Arha spat out. "I do not use people as easy as the golden child does and even if it was vengeance I sought..."

"Yes?" Frigga questioned so softly that Arha almost didn't hear.

"Well, my vengeance has nothing on your love when it comes to hurting Loki."

Frigga was saved answering when the doors to the coronation room was thrown open and an angry Odin strode in while Loki, pale and shaken trailed after.

"Where is Thor?" Frigga asked and as Odin and she had their conversation Arha turned to Loki. He didn't look at her, didn't look at any of them, stared instead at his hand. The vambrace had been shattered and the arm was bare.

"You are not injured?" the haze that was hanging over him so heavy would have made it so he wouldn't really register the pain of an injury.

"No," He said, impossibly soft and she couldn't help but shift closer to him in concern. She did not know him long but even she could recognise that this softness, this almost lack of voice was uncharacteristic of him.

She took the hand he was looking at with such fear and loathing in hers, pulling it so it was now palm up on hers and dropped his signet into it.

"We must take care of what is ours." Arha said, hoping he understood what she was saying and what she could not say in front of these others, even if they were paying her no attention, not now.

Loki looked up finally meeting her eyes. His hand curled around his ring and then her hand and he pulled her out of the throne room and they all but ran to his chambers and when the doors closed he let her go like she was made of the fires of Muspelheim.

" _You knew."_


End file.
